Sci/Tech Molten-air battery's storage capacity among the highest of any battery type

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(Phys.org) —Researchers have demonstrated a new class of high-energy battery, called a "molten-air battery," that has one of the highest storage capacities of any battery type to date. Unlike some other high-energy batteries, the molten-air battery has the advantage of being rechargeable. Although the molten electrolyte currently requires high-temperature operation, the battery is so new that the researchers hope that experimenting with different molten compositions and other characteristics will make molten-air batteries strong competitors in electric vehicles and for storing energy for the electric grid.

The researchers, Stuart Licht, Baochen Cui, Jessica Stuart, Baohui Wang, and Jason Lau, at George Washington University, have published a paper on the new molten-air battery in a recent issue of Energy & Environmental Science.

"This is the first time that a rechargeable molten-air battery has been demonstrated," Licht told Phys.org. "There have been rechargeable batteries that use molten electrolytes, but not air. For example, molten-sulfur batteries have been widely studied for electric car and grid applications. However, sulfur is twice as massive as oxygen (per electron stored) and its mass needs to be carried as part of the battery (whereas air is freely available). The molten-air batteries are the first rechargeable batteries to use a molten salt to store energy using 'free' oxygen from the air and multi-electron storage molecules."

This ability to store multiple electrons in a single molecule is one of the biggest advantages of the molten-air battery. By their nature, multiple-electron-per-molecule batteries usually have higher storage capacities compared to single-electron-per-molecule batteries, such as Li-ion batteries. The battery with the highest energy capacity to date, the vanadium boride (VB2)-air battery, can store 11 electrons per molecule. However, the VB2-air battery and many other high-capacity batteries have a serious drawback: they are not rechargeable.

phys.org

Molten-air battery's storage capacity among the highest of any battery type

(Phys.org) —Researchers have demonstrated a new class of high-energy battery, called a "molten-air battery," that has one of the highest storage capacities of any battery type to date. Unlike some other high-energy batteries, the molten-air battery has the advantage of being rechargeable...
phys.org phys.org
 
Last edited:
The Helper said:
[...] Unlike some other high-energy batteries, the molten-air battery has the advantage of being rechargeable. [...]
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Wait. Isnt the definition of a "battery" that it isnt rechargable? That is the difference between a battery and an accumulator.

Edit: Nevermind, I just looked it up, in english its different.
 
Getting away from explosive Lithium Ion is a good thing. Though recharging currently requires high heat on the molten air side, it is brand new tech though and that might not be a problem in the future.... I think it is not explosive though and that would be a big plus if that were so.
 
Lithium batteries explode so rarely, I dont see what your problem is with these.

I worked some time as a bartender on an RC-model car racing track. All their cars where powered with lithium ion batteries. Those car were constantly crashing and flying around, and those batteries were big and strong.
It only happened 2 times in 3 years that the batteries made a problem, and both times it were really really old batteries. And both times we simply threw them in a basket full of sand and put the basket outside.
These batteries are far less dangerous then one would think.
 
The batteries on real cars are much bigger and would be much more mass produced than RC cars. I mean they are in cell phones and those are a huge consumer item and you only hear about a few people exploding... so maybe it would be ok lol
 
The batteries in real cars are not lithium ion batteries. These are way too weak for that.
 
So when can I expect my phone to be powered by a small molten-air battery?
 
SouLEDGE said:
So when can I expect my phone to be powered by a small molten-air battery?
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Let the researchers have some time with it.

I'd also like to know how electrodes behave when under high temperatures. Because of entropy, you can't really predict how the Atoms move and thats where I think it might get interesting, since you are "pressing" electrodes into a direction. I wonder if you get irregular streams of electricity.
 
Hatebreeder said:
Because of entropy, you can't really predict how the Atoms move and thats where I think it might get interesting, since you are "pressing" electrodes into a direction. I wonder if you get irregular streams of electricity.
Click to expand...
well that's why regulator circuits exist
 
Hatebreeder said:
Let the researchers have some time with it.

I'd also like to know how electrodes behave when under high temperatures. Because of entropy, you can't really predict how the Atoms move and thats where I think it might get interesting, since you are "pressing" electrodes into a direction. I wonder if you get irregular streams of electricity.
Click to expand...
The cell should operate at the same voltage but higher current, when at higher temperatures. Because there is the same chemical potential for each molecule of electrolyte(i.e reduction potential should be the same), but there is more collisions of the electrolyte against the electrode per second. The current shouldn't be any more irregular than at normal temperatures.

Well thats what I think. Could be wrong about the voltage thing, but I'm pretty sure about the current not being irregular.
 
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